See ya in 18 months, world!

Sister Chelsea Breinholt

(Until May 9th)

MTC Mailbox #179

IL-CHI 0507

2005 N 900 E

Provo, UT 84604-1793

(From May 9th - October of 2013)

1319 Butterfield Rd Suite 522

Downers Grove, IL 60515

Write me! :)

<3

To those who even read this blog....

...if there are even any out there. Haha

Alright, I officially have my addresses for all of you to write me at:)

*mtc address - write here until May 9th*
Sister Chelsea Breinholt
MTC Mailbox # 179
IL-CHI 0507
2005 N 900 E
Provo, UT 84604-1793

*chicago mission home address - write here anytime after May 9th*
Sister Chelsea Breinholt
1319 Butterfield Rd. Suite 522
Downers Grove, IL 60515

Can't wait to see you all on Sunday!

i'm a super cool girl.

So for reasons Im not quite sure of, I have decided to not go private.

Ok I know. Its because I'm lazy and don't know how to and also I just dont care enough to do it. Haha

And let's be honest. My life is not really interesting enough for me to have to hide it!

The last month has been a whirlwind. My mission call triggered quite the emotional rollercoaster. Which is the least fun ride I have ever been on, let me tell ya. Super stoked, super excited - super scared, super unmotivated. I hear this is sometimes the reaction pre-mish's have during the month they get their call, but it doesnt feel so great! I first got the feeling to serve a mission in July. 6 months ago. And here I am with my CALL. Its just surreal how fast this all happened! And it doesnt help that I, for some reason I will never understand, decided to sign up for a 17 credit semester of classes! I guess there was one crazy day where I decided I was up for the challenge, a day when I thought I could do all of these things I've committed to. I've just gotta trust the old me! The SANE me! The one who knew I would be amazing at all of the things life has in store for me. The hormonal, emotional rollercoaster me is not so trustworthy. Haha.

I've been filling my hectic life with lots of happy things. To distract myself from the chaos.

One of my oldest bestest friends in the world came home from his mission just in time for my mission call and being around him again has been a blessing! He can relate to what I'm going through and helps me more than he even knows. Thats the way its been for the past 5 or so years we've been friends! I've been spending lots of time with him and both sides of his wonderful family and it has been great!

I've been watching sickening amounts of netflix due to this ridiculous bout of insomnia I've been having lately. So if you for some reason need to get a hold of me between the hours of midnight and 4 - i'm sitting in front of my computer rewatching every season of One Tree Hill.

yep, pathetic. I know.

Oh and for Christmas my AMAZING parents got Tay, Colton, and me iPhones. So we are FINALLY and officially part of the cool kids club. So as anyone with an iPhone knows - The last month has been pretty unproductive due to my lack of a real life. Holy cow. I am in love. With a phone.

Again, pathetic. As you can tell..i'm a super cool girl.

who has it ALL together.

(not!)

Going Private

So, my life is starting to pick up and I want my blogging to as well.

So if you would like to continue my blogger adventure with me, send me your email address and I'll send you an invite:)

the moment you've all been waiting for...

Okay maybe not.. but definitely the moment I'VE been waiting for!!

I have been called to serve as a missionary for the church of jesus christ of latter day saints in CHICAGO, ILLINOIS!!! English speaking, reporting April 18th!!!!!!!!!!

Im super excited! It really feels like a great fit for me and now I can take some time and wrap my head around the fact that IM ACTUALLY GOING ON A MISSION now that I know where I'll be for the next year and a half!

:) :) :)

the future Sister Breinholt

This past Sunday, I submitted my mission papers!!!

In about a week or so I should be getting my call to serve!

I am so

nervous/excited/frantic/happy/terrified/impatient/exhausted/accomplished!

Haha hows that?!

Well, stay tuned, I guess!! :D

love BITES

literally, apparently?

haha. i miss allens weird ways of showing me he cares.

i belong to the church of jesus christ of latter day saints.

finally finished my mormon.org profile!

Yay!!

click here and check it out,

And go make your own!

Elder D Allen Erickson, Camden New Jersey

Allen made it out of the MTC alive:) On October 11th he flew out of Salt Lake to Philadelphia! I got to talk to him on the phone for 15 minutes and it was great. He is so happy. The happiest I've ever heard him be. He is completely in his element and it brings me a lot of peace to know that he fits this role so well and is happy.

Cool story - When he was flying from Salt Lake to his layover in Detroit, he sat next to a lady on the plane and taught her all about the church. She was so interested and kept asking him and another sister missionary they were sitting by TONS of questions. She was so receptive and gave them info to get a hold of her family members in Philadelphia so they could know about the Gospel as well! It was so cool. Allen has been waiting 9 weeks for the opportunity to actually teach someone outside of the MTC and he gets that ON THE PLANE RIDE OVER. Just goes to show you this is EXACTLY where Al needs to be right now. His purpose is so great as a missionary. He truly was born to do this and to serve this time for the Lord.

He is now in his first area out in the field. Camden, New Jersey. Sound familiar? It is the #1 ranked city in the United States for murders. Yep, most dangerous city in the U.S. is his FIRST TRANSFER. Needless to say I am a walking anxiety attack. He says people just walk around carrying baseball bats and knives. His companion has seen two people killed right in front of him. But he also says for the most part these "gangsters" know about the mormon missionaries and leave them alone and even like them for the most part. So thats good to know!! He is just stoked to be there and be teaching and using his Spanish (which he is BOMB at). Im proud of him:) I miss him so much, but I know he has never been so happy and this is where he needs to be right now!

time to share my news?

I dont think too many people read this blog. And that's okay. Because I dont know if I'm going completely viral with this info yet, but here it is:

Yep! Those are mission papers that I started filling out today!

:)

8 Weeks.

(warning: i'm indulging myself in a mushy missing allen blog post. avert your eyes if necessary.)

its been 8 weeks and one day since i've seen my sweet sweet Lallen. and I made the mistake of watching a video today of a girl being "reunited" with her missionary after waiting. BIG MISTAKE. cue emotional breakdown. i miss him. i miss him every second of every day. no one knows me better. no one gets my stupid jokes more. no one makes me feel as loved. i DO get to talk to him next week when he is flying from utah to pennsylvania! thats a PLUS. but not a lot can make up for the fact that it will be a good 22 months until we see each other again.

alright, i've vented. now its time to look on the bright side and go on with my life. the past 2 months have really made me grow up and be more independent. i deal with my own problems instead of calling allen and crying about it. i put myself out there more and have made a few really good friends. i've realized that i CAN live without allen. i just dont ever WANT to.

for everyone barfing right now, i DID warn you. so it's your own fault.

i'm proud to be an american, where at least i know i'm free.

these were taken at the 9/11 memorial at tempe town lake yesterday. i can't even begin to describe how moving it was. they had flags staked in the grass for each of the 3,000 people who lost their lives that day. when you saw the towers fall and the destruction it caused - 3,000 didn't seem like a lot. but when you see the numbers first hand, represented right before your eyes it was overwhelming. i was 10 years old at the time of the attacks. every so often i think back on how little i understood back then, how confused i was at the situation, how i really thought i had no connection to what was going on. if only i knew then what i know now. i am so grateful to those who lost their lives that day and to the many that GAVE their lives that day as well. while people were running out of the towers after the planes hit, police officers, firefighters, and medics were all running in. i have such extreme gratitude for these everyday heroes' sacrifice. after being at that memorial and seeing the sights that i saw, it is apparent now more than ever that i will never forget that day in our country's history.

Wherefore, I say unto you, that ye ought to forgive one another; for he that forgiveth not his brother his trespasses standeth condemned before the Lord; for there remaineth in him the greater sin. I, the Lord, will forgive whom I will forgive, but of you it is required to forgive all men. And ye ought to say in your hearts — let God judge between me and thee, and reward thee according to thy deeds. - D&C 64:9-11

Wednesday, August 10th, 2011

That is the date that my little Lallen will enter the MTC and become Elder Erickson, missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. This is my focus right now..helpin Allen get ready to go and all packed up:) Then, I have a little announcement of my own! More to come later... Wish me luck! These next couple of days are going to be bittersweet..

Called To Serve

The wait is over!

Donald Allen Erickson has been called to serve in the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania mission, Spanish speaking, reporting August 10th!!!

For those of you wondering...that is in 87 days. But who's counting, right? Haha.

I always knew this day would come but you can never fully prepare yourself for it, ya know? I am so excited but I know its going to be tough. Allen is so excited and I know he will be THE BEST missionary ever!!

<3

Where to start..

My last post was about what a goddess I am in the kitchen...

Ah, back in the days when I had TIME..

I think I've baked once since then. And it was the ONE time I've had time to do my visiting teaching since I moved into my new ward in January...haha..Theres some room for improvement there...

Hm, since October...

Allen and I took a trip up to Snowflake to stay at Kylie's (my roommate/best friend) parents house. That was so fun. VERY cold weather, pony riding, Snowflake Temple, hunting for snow (we never found any).

Then, in February we went to DISNEYLAND! It was my present to Allen from Christmas. We had so much fun. We even flew there! My favorite ride was Toy Story, Allen's was California Screamin'. We both love Space Mountain too of course. Ah, I can't wait to go back.

In March I started school for Radiography. It is a lot harder than I expected it to be. I've got my work cut out for me. I am going to be a busy busy girl for the next two years. But at least I get to wear scrubs. Its like wearing pajamas to school everyday.

Allen gets his mission call this Friday hopefully. I'm so excited for him! But I'm not going to lie. It's going to be the hardest thing I'll ever do to see him off. But I really am supportive and I know that this is what's right and it will pay off in the end!

That's all I've got for now. Hopefully, my life will get a little more exciting and I'll have more to blog about.

Domestic Tendencies

I bake. And I like it.

...more to come:)

life is funny.

mine is.

at least lately it has been..

most recently...

today i was driving into our apartment complex. someone was stopped at our keypad that opens our gate (which is finally functional after the 3 months we've lived here). i decided to be patient and not blast my horn at them. even after the 4 whole minutes that they sat there trying to figure out what planet they were on. they FINALLY opened the gate (hurray!) and drove into the first parking lot and stopped. and put their blinker on. and then proceeded to sit there for another minute or so doing nothing. so, i decided it was time to go around them. well, they decided it was then parking time so as i went around they tried to park..into the side of me. i stopped and backed up and let them go. the chinese lady in the drivers seat shot me a death stare and threw her arms up in the air dramatically. i drove into the second parking lot and parked. across the lots i see the overly confused, new-to-america chinese couple from the car walking in as well. they looked at eachother confusedly and then to me and then back to eachother. then the man calls out to me in the heaviest chinese "accent" i can even imagine

"What THEEEE haiiil?! Do you not see my liiiiight!!?"

Apparently "light" is new-to-america-chinese for BLINKER.

Anyways, I did see your light Jackie Chan and your light was on for about a decade before I decided to go around. Of course I didnt say that. I was busy trying to stay on my feet from laughing so hard at his weird asian outburst and then watch his confusion resurface as he and his wife again tried to assess where on earth they were at and how they got there.

welcome to america.

It's been a while....

So. Um..blogging. Its not my strong suit.

But better 4 months last than never!!

Summer was great! A wonderful Cali trip (see pic above, more pics to come later) with Mason and Allen. Puerto Vallarta with the family. Swam with dolphins and sea lions. Went on a canopy zipline. (Also pics to come from these adventures as well.) Lots of swimming and time with friends. Great great times!

With summer, came the decision to move to Tempe with one of my best friends, Kylie. It was a very big decision and a tough one. I figured there would be no better opportunity than this one. And with me trying to go to school in Phoenix and all...the closer distance would help. So we moved in to our cute LITTLE 2 bedroom, 1 bath apartment in August with 2 other sweet girls. Breyanna and Amber, both of whom started off as strangers but now i LOVE THEM!

Things started off not so awesomely. The apartment came with some baggage. A cockroach problemo to be exact. Not the funnest month of my life FOR SURE. Ew. I'm going to skip over all of the wonderful details of this month because it will make me relive it and believe me NO ONE wants THAT.

The apartment is now roach free and super amazing. Loving it! Its actually pretty random in here...but thats how we roll!

I have been spending buckets of time with my sweet boy. We'll definitely have to get some more pics of him back up here:) I love that boy more than mashed potatoes and banana ice cream times one thousand. And thats a lot. He'll have his mission papers all set in about 3 months. Its crazy how I can look forward to something so much while dreading it all at the same time. Its going to be really rough on me. But I know it is the right thing and ultimately will bring us both so much happiness and will contribute to our happy marriage later in life! Well, thats enough mushy stuff...for now:)

Hopefully I'll get back into the swing of blogging here soon. I kinda have missed it.

.Love,

Chels.

summerrrrrrrrr !!!

FINALLY!!

things to cross of my summer 2010 list.

1) a ridiculous amount of swimming

2) cali trip with the boys

3) puerto vallarta with the fam

4) LOTS of allen time

5) matching ctr rings

6) lots of temple trips

7) reading the rest of the 'tennis shoes' series

8) wet n wild

9) sunsplash

10) get into Carrington College...

let's get started! <3

one year.

why yes, blogworld.
it has been one whole year since the first date with mr. allen moise.
and what a whirlwind of a year its been.
i couldn't ask for anything more in life right now.
except maybe a time machine. to fast forward 2 years from now.